Chapter 267

Seeing that an opportunity came, a middle-aged official with a goatee walked out of the line and said to the emperor in front of him, “Your Majesty the emperor, the third master Gu is still young, he may be responsible for the peace talks between the two countries but this official is afraid that the will is there but not the strength.”

As he said this, he also couldn’t help commenting to himself: just imagine, Beiyan is willing to give up five hundred Turkic horses for the sake of peace talks. This alone is proof of how sincere they are, so if the peace agreement is entrusted to the second prince, the negotiation will end in ten days!

With this in mind, the middle-aged official continued in a righteous way: “Your Majesty the emperor, as far as I know, Duan Wangye and Duan Wang Fei are in the middle of a divorce, this official is afraid that Third Master Gu’s mind is not on the peace talks now, so it is inevitable that there will be some negligence.”

“This official asks the emperor to choose another wise person to take charge of the overall situation. And with these thoughts, the ministers recommend His Highness the Second Prince, who made it possible for Prince Yelu to offer the Turkic horses on his own initiative. It can be seen that with his talents in strategizing, he will be able to strive for greater benefits to Daqi.”

Gu Jing suppressed the corner of his mouth that was about to curl up, and just modestly bowed his head, then said, “Lord imented me. Emperor Father, this son is only doing his small part for Daqi.”

“…” The emperor looked at Gu Jing below silently.

The large golden palace fell into silence.

Seeing that the emperor did not immediately oppose, Gu Jing’s eyes lit a fire of hope, thinking they have a chance.

Not only Gu Jing thought so, but so was the ministers. Immediately afterward, several ministers stood out one from the line, one after another to express their opinions:

“Your Majesty the emperor, the Second Prince, is wise and is the same with your majesty. He will definitely be able to shoulder this important responsibility.”

“I second the motion.”

“….”

“Your Majesty the emperor, Duan Wangye holds a large military power in the western border and is an important minister of the country. However, there is a saying, how can one manage a country if one couldn’t even manage a room? Duan Wangfu is restless, so it is inevitable that Third Master Gu is affected. The peace talks between the two countries are not trivial as they concern the people of the two countries so if the peace talks are ‘deliberately’ complicating the issue because of Duan Wangfu’s circumstances, isn’t this a disaster for Daqi?”

This last remark was made by Lord Xu again, and these words were also meaningful. On the surface, they worry that the family affairs of Duan Wangye’s residence would affect the peace talks between the two countries, but they deliberately emphasize that “Duan Wangye already has military power in the western border” and they were “deliberately complicate the issue” by clearly reminding the emperor that if Gu Zezhi secretly reaches an agreement with Beiyan behind the emperor’s back it might be a “disaster” for Daqi.

Among the ministers present many were cunning old foxies who immediately understands the underlying meaning behind the words. Some nodded with approval, some did not approve or agreed, while some thought it was necessary to be defensive, and some thoughtfully frowned.

As for those military generals, most of them did not express their opinions, after all, Duan Wangye has great war achievements and has always been quite reputable among military generals. Moreover, since ancient times, most of the military generals who hold military power would become the object of the emperor’s scorn.

The emperor on the golden throne watched them coldly taking in the expressions of the officials below.

Four or five officials bowed their heads together, requesting for Gu Jing.

Silence still enveloped the golden palace, no one spoke for a long time until the emperor’s majestic voice sounded.

“Granted.”

“Let the second prince assist the matter of peace talks between the two countries from the side to help Gu Zezhi.”

Hearing these words, overjoyed Gu Jing. He bowed his head and said, “I will live up to my emperor father’s hope.”

Gu Jing was not disappointed after hearing that he would only assist Gu Zezhi after all he did not expect the emperor to hand over the peace talks to him at once. For him, it was already a very successful start for his father to let him participate in peace talks.

Although now he was not leading but was only assisting from the side, as long as his emperor father sees how outstanding he was, he believes that he could squeeze Gu Zezhi down.

Gu Jing retreated to the line, his eyes shining with an unusually bright light.

He had already written to Gu Chenzhi, the heir of Duan Wangye who was on the Western Border, informing him about Duan Wang Fei’s threat to divorce Duan Wangye.

Gu Jing’s heart was like a mirror. The so-called divorce to put it bluntly was just a trick women use to make trouble and throw a tantrum. How could Duan Wang Fei ask for a divorce, not to mention if Duan Wangye agree or not, the clan would certainly not agree to this. Then the only reason Duan Wang Fei was doing such a fuss was to force Duan Wangye to abolish his heir and replace him with Gu Zezhi.

He asked Gu Chenzhi to make preparations in advance, and surely Gu Chenzhi would view this as his goodwill.

And since Duan Wangfu would soon be very busy Gu Zezhi would be too occupied to even be interested in peace talks between the two countries. And when this time comes, he would definitely be the first to contribute to the peace talks.

Gu Jing’s eyes blazed even more, almost a little impatient.

What else was said in the morning court after that, Gu Jing didn’t even pay attention at all as all of his thoughts were coiled on Gu Chenzhi and Gu Zezhi, the brothers, and an hour later, the morning court ended.

After leaving the court, Gu Jing rushes to find Gu Zezhi.

“Imperial Uncle,” Gu Jing politely bowed his hand to Gu Zezhi, “Emperor Father has ordered me to assist Imperial Uncle in charge of the peace talks between the two countries, so I would like to ask for more guidance from Imperial Uncle in the future.”

His tone sounded very modest and decent, but his face was full of undisguised pride. The corners of his lips were raised, which made him somewhat noble and proud.

A seventeen-year-old youth, this age was still young, this was the age of high spirits, and does not know how to hide his emotions.

Gu Zezhi, who was sitting behind a bookcase, raised his head from an official document and looked at him with a smile. His warm, jade-like face didn’t even lift his eyebrows, showing no emotion.

***